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Dinosaur Trackway Speed Reconstruction

Reconstruct a dinosaur's walking or running speed from fossil footprints using Alexander's trackway equation — set hip height and stride length and watch a matching gait animate live.

Ecology & Conservation Biology3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Fossil footprints are one of the few direct records of how extinct animals actually moved. This simulator applies R. McNeill Alexander's (1976) trackway equation — the standard method paleontologists use to estimate dinosaur walking and running speeds — to a set of adjustable trackway measurements. Set the hip height (from footprint size) and the stride length (from footprint spacing) and the simulator computes the implied speed, Froude number, and gait class, then animates a matching trackmaker walking or running across a footprint trail laid out at the correct spacing so you can see the reconstructed gait in motion.

⚙ Under the hood

Reconstruct a dinosaur's walking or running speed from fossil footprints using Alexander's trackway equation, then watch a matching gait animate across a footprint trail spaced to the measured stride.

paleontologybiomechanicsdinosaurstrackwaygait analysis

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install